LONDON — At Friday’s press conference, Robert Saleh was surprised when reminded that the team had fallen behind 17-0 behind the last time it played across the pond. However, despite any changes that the Jets may have implemented to avoid another slow start, history repeated itself as New York once again fell into a 17-point hole in London — this time against the Minnesota Vikings.
Just like in that previous game, a 27-20 loss to the Atlanta Falcons in October 2021, the Jets battled back and made it a contest in the fourth quarter. However, their comeback once again fell short as Aaron Rodgers threw his third interception deep in Minnesota territory with 49 seconds left.
The Jets trailed by three points and had good field position following a Quincy Williams fumble recovery, but Rodgers — on his first interception, at the 2:18 mark of the first quarter — failed to see linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel dropping into coverage on third down and threw it right to him on his first interception. To make matters worse, Van Ginkel tight-roped the sideline on a 62-yard touchdown return that gave Minnesota a 10-0 lead.
On the next drive, Rodgers was again intercepted — this time on an overthrown pass, as the Jets failed to register a single first down in the first quarter and were outgained 107-19. By the end of the game, they had outgained the Vikings 254-253 but never led.
CJ Ham’s second-quarter touchdown plunge increased the Vikings’ lead to 17-0, before the Jets were able to at last put a decent drive together at the end of the half. A Rodgers-Allen Lazard touchdown pass after a two-minute drill made it a 10-point game at the half.
Things looked set to go from bad to worse for the Jets as Gardner headed to the locker room with a head injury in the third quarter, and then Rodgers went down with an apparent injury after another Jets drive stalled. However, a roughing-the-kicker penalty gave the Jets the ball back, and Rodgers returned. He drove down to set up a short Greg Zuerlein field goal to make it a one-possession game late in the third. Gardner also returned in the fourth quarter.
The Jets got the ball back near their own end zone but went three and out, and a short punt gave Minnesota good field position from which it restored its 10-point lead on a Will Reichard field goal.
New York got a fourth-quarter lifeline when Sam Darnold threw an interception to Brandin Echols in Minnesota territory, and the Jets were able to drive down and cut the lead to 20-17 on a short pass from Rodgers to Garrett Wilson with six minutes remaining. The Vikings managed just a field goal on their next drive, giving the Jets one last chance with three minutes to go, but they reached Minnesota’s 26-yard line before Rodgers’ third interception.
Here are the key takeaways…
– The Jets mixed up their approach to covering Justin Jefferson, but he still had a major impact on the first half. Although he only had four catches for 61 yards, Jefferson also drew four penalties. Gardner was frustrated with the officiating as he had two of those penalties and another one while covering Jordan Addison in the first half. They did a good job on him after halftime, holding him to just one catch. However, this was a key 25-yarder to set up a field goal and he also drew another big penalty on DJ Reed.
– Once again, the Jets were unable to get their running game going. Breece Hall ran for a gain of seven yards with 1:22 remaining in the first half. But, prior to that, they had generated just five yards on six carries. This included back-to-back carries by Braelon Allen on third- and fourth-and-short in field-goal range on New York’s only other first-half scoring chance. New York ended up with just 36 yards on 14 carries.
– The Jets remain committed to getting Wilson involved, with Rodgers’ first five targets all going his way. However, all five of Wilson’s first-half catches came on short passes, and the pair clearly was not on the same page on a few other occasions. They kept going to him, though, and started to figure some things out as he ended up with 13 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown.
– New York had some rough luck with fumbles in the first half. Jefferson had one on the game’s first play that rolled harmlessly out of bounds, Echols had one on special teams that was overturned on a replay review and, when Williams finally recovered one, he looked set to return it for a touchdown only to be tripped on Darnold’s desperation tackle.
– The Jets kept Darnold in check for most of the game, but he was helped significantly by all the defensive penalties. The Jets were able to rattle him into some bad throws, including on a couple of potential big plays that he underthrew. His fourth-quarter interception to Echols clearly sailed on him.
– The Jets made a couple of changes on defense, one of which was they were forced into as nickel back Michael Carter II injured his hamstring and had to be replaced by Isaiah Oliver. Another interesting change: Solomon Thomas was rotating in at defensive end rather than playing mostly inside.
– Two of Minnesota’s biggest plays came as the Vikings confused the Jets with a bunch formation and Gardner collided with another player to leave his man wide open. Gardner was injured on the second of these collisions. The communication in the back seven is clearly still a work in progress between the likes of Jamien Sherwood and Chuck Clark.
– Lazard is clearly someone who has been on the same page as Rodgers and came up big with the touchdown before halftime. However, that only came after he had dropped two other passes, so Rodgers is clearly still searching for dependable targets whom he feels he can trust. Lazard later could not corral a diving catch attempt in the end zone on third down, and then the same happened during a long pass on the final drive.
Highlights
What’s next
The Jets (2-3) get an extra day to recover from their transatlantic trip as they return to MetLife Stadium for Monday Night Football against the Buffalo Bills next Monday at 8:15 p.m.
